Antimicrobial Activity of Indigenous Medicinal Plants Against Enterococcus faecalis

The knowledge of medicinal plant use by indigenous populations constitutes the most understudied medical treatment of the modern world. Utilized by these people for millennia, the scientific community has just recently began to see the legitimacy of their medicinal benefits and has begun to scientifically test them in hopes of discovering their active compounds and the major health ramifications associated with them. However, both the plants themselves and the shamanic knowledge of the plants are fading fast due to destruction of indigenous habitats and the process of acculturation that tribal populations are undergoing. The goal of this study was to travel to three South American tribal groups to document, collect and test the medicinal plants for antibiotic properties. The groups focused on were the Shipibo Indians of the Peruvian Amazon, the Atacameño Indians of the Chilean Atacama Desert, and the Mapuche Indians of the southern, temperate zone of Chile. The collected plants were then tested for antimicrobial activity in a laboratory setting against the antibiotic-resistant pathogen, Enterococcus faecalis. This was accomplished by first performing an antimicrobial assay of the plants and then measuring their effect on the inhibition of bacterial colony formation. Thus far, the Shipibo plants ani boains (Mansoa alliacea) and arabanca (unidentified species) have displayed antibiotic activity against the E. faecalis pathogen. These plants not only help to legitimize indigenous medical practice, but they also have the potential of helping to alleviate one of the largest problems posed to the modern medical community by inhibiting E. faecalis growth. Antimicrobial Activity of Indigenous Medicinal Plants Against Enterococcus faecalis